Case Study: Pet-Friendly Artificial Grass Install in Aurora, CO
We know that there are many things to consider when choosing the right artificial dog and pet grass, and according to Belinda Spillman, a residential real estate broker and owner of Aspen Lane Real Estate, doing research was key prior to us installing artificial turf at her home in the Saddle Rock Golf Course community in Aurora, CO. “Customers research everything these days. Before they talk to a Realtor, they go online. Before they buy a product, they do all the research,” said Spillman. And she was no different.
The Sod Dilemma
After Spillman and her husband added a second dog to their household, it was time to consider another option to their quickly dying grass. “We had our sod re-installed in March, and it lasted about three months with our two golden retrievers,” noted Spillman. “We had a service that mowed our yard every week, and that wasn’t a big deal, but with the dogs, we felt like we were throwing more and more money after a problem without solving anything,” she added.
They considered doing the install themselves after watching some how-to videos, but realized the amount of work involved and reconsidered. They first hired a company that failed miserably at installing their artificial turf three times. After paying a deposit and putting their dogs in a kennel each time, Belinda turned to Google and started over. She called companies until she was able to reach someone, and that happened to be a local SYNLawn distributor in Colorado.
What to Look For
The couple knew they wanted something natural looking since their freestanding patio home sits at the end of a cul-de-sac and everyone walking by would see their yard through their wrought-iron fence. Initially, they did a lot of research and looked to find the most realistic-looking grass. They also determined some of the other things that were important to them. We here at SYNLawn suggest that homeowners make a list like the one below to make sure you know what your priorities are since not everyone wants or needs the same thing. For them, their list included:
- Artificial grass specifically designed for pets
- Something that would look natural
- A product that wouldn’t burn the dogs feet when walking or laying out in the grass
- Something that wouldn’t smell bad after the dogs used it
Choosing SYNFescue 354
At first, the Spillmans selected one of our SYNLawn products with shorter grass blades, but their sales rep Colby suggested our SYNFescue 354 because he stated that the SYNFescue was often chosen by customers because it looks the most natural, and that was what they were after. The Spillmans decided to go with our SYNFescue 354 due to its multi-colored ‘Omega’ shaped grass blades, which Colby told them gives outstanding durability. They were also impressed that it had HeatBlock™ Technology, which helps decrease the surface temperatures by as much as 20 percent. After learning about the features of the SYNFescue 354, they really felt confident in choosing the right product for their pet dog area.
The SYNLawn Installation Process
As any homeowner living under the guidelines of a homeowners association (HOA) should, the Spillmans did have to get approval from their HOA for their pet-friendly artificial grass. Prior to the installation process, they had to fill out a form that was then submitted to the board and included pictures from our website with examples of our SYNFescue 354 turf. The board members quickly approved the installation after just two days.
Their SYNLawn SYNFescue 354 was installed at the end of July, and it took approximately 10 days for the entire project to be completed from the initial call to the final installation. As good as this all was, it was the customer service side of it that really sold them. As a real estate broker in the Denver area, Spillman was all too familiar with meeting customers’ expectations, and at this point, her own was pretty high. “They were awesome with the install, and they obviously knew what they were doing,” she said. The guys from our Colorado location showed up an hour early and worked really long hours for two days. Colby actually came by about an hour into the installation to check on things and called them 24 hours after the install to ensure they were satisfied with their installation. Now that is a great example of what customer service is and the way it should be done!
Since they live in a golf course community, everyone now calls their backyard the 19th hole. They’re thrilled with the outcome, and the dogs love it too. Maverick, their youngest golden retriever, is obsessed with tennis balls and can drop the ball, hit it with his paw, and it bounces up and he loves it! Rocky, their other fur-baby, prefers just rolling around on it and relaxing.
Lessons Learned
What lessons did she learn? “We tell people don’t make the mistake we did by hiring the wrong company. My husband was talking to the neighbors, and they didn’t even realize our SYNLawn wasn’t real grass,” she said. He told others about their experience with both companies and how different they were, and they say there’s been a lot of interest in using SYNLawn now from other homeowners in the Aurora area.
Belinda also advises to not go with the cheapest product because you get what you pay for. “It’s sort of like when you’re buying carpet. They bring out a 6″ by 6″ or so sample, and you look at it like 10 inches from your face. When you spread that out over your yard, it looks completely different.”
Installing artificial grass is great for the resale value of a home too; take it from the real estate expert. It was a great process for her to go through because she believes that there is a huge market for this kind of product for “people that are over 50 who don’t want to mess with yard work anymore and don’t have little kids around.”
Add SYNLawn to Your Property
If you’d like to add artificial dog and pet grass to your property, then learn more about the residential products we offer. To get started on your pet-friendly artificial grass project, you can click here to find a SYNLawn distributor near you.
